TASHKENT, December 26. /TASS/. Uzbekistan has intensified its participation in the activities of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in recent years by signing dozens of multilateral agreements, the press service of the Uzbek leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev said, commenting on his participation in the informal summit of CIS leaders on Monday.
"In recent years, Uzbekistan has intensified its participation in the activity of the CIS, signing over 40 multilateral agreements. It has also joined 23 sectoral bodies of the CIS," the report said. It is noted that only in the current year, trade turnover of the republic with the CIS countries has increased by a third. More than 1,000 enterprises were created in Uzbekistan with CIS countries’ presence.
According to the press service, at present, "Uzbekistan is developing cooperation with partners within the CIS in three dimensions: in politics and security, economic and humanitarian spheres". The country considers the establishment of a full-fledged free trade zone and the strengthening of transport interconnectivity in the CIS as priority tasks.
It is reported that during the informal summit, the heads of CIS member states summarize the results of cooperation in the outgoing year and discuss the priority areas of cooperation in the coming year, as well as topical issues of regional and international agenda.